4
buNuAV, jAnUAht ill). lao.i
MEDFORO MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFOHD, OREGON
Iveryone Id Southern Oregon
Beads The MiUTrlbiiiw;
EibiTshed Dally except Saturday by
MEDKORD PRINTING CO.
SSNortfc ifitSUPtiriV-ti
ROBERT W. RUKL. Editor
uDn r.nrv Arivartistna Manaaer
GERALD T LATHAM, "But Mar
ERIC W ALLEN JR.. Mn. Editor
EARL H ADAMS, City Editor
HARRV CHlPMANTel Editor
OLIVE ST ARCHER Women'a Editor
DALE ERICKSON. Circulation Mil
An Independent Newspaper
Entered ai second class matter at
Medford, Oregon, unaer aci oi
Mnrch 3. 1897
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
nu Mali In Advance.
Dally and Sunday 1 yearlll.OO
n.ilu mr,A RunriflV 8 fnOS 10 00
Dailv and Sunday 3 mos S.00
Sunday Omy One year 5 O0
Single Copy (Mailed) ioe
r-.,.-..., Anrf Mnlnf Ruute.
Dally and Sunday I year S2100
Dallv and Sunday 1 mo. L75
Sunday Only 1 mo. wc
Carrier and Vendora Copy 10c
Official Paper ot City of Medford
Official iHper oi Jwswnrl'2
United Press International
Villi Umed Wire
O. P. I Telephoto Neyjsplcturei
MEMBER or auum mmciu
Of CI RCULATIONS
Advertising RcpreienUtlve:
urr anif nnAERTS A ASSOCI.
ATES Of'lcea In New York. Chi
cago. Detroit. San Francisco, Los
Angejea. Beanie. - u n .
Denver.
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
27X
-S-W2a.
NEWSPAMR
PUILISHIKS
ASSOCIATION
Flight o' Time
Medford and Jackson County
History from the files of The
Mail Tribune 10, 20, 30, 40
and SO years ago..
The Costs of Government
"The burden of the governor' message (to the leg
islature) is that we must cope with not unmixed bless
ings of civilization. The Oregon of this year and next
is not the same Oregon for which many of our present
laws were passed. We have more people, and more of
them clustered together in cities and, just as important,
in unincorporated commuities on the fringes of cities.
The automobile continues to work its wondrous revolu
tion in our way of life."
10 YEARS AGO
Jan. 20, 1953
Ashland's Elks lodgo mem
bers have voted to purchase
the adjoining Lithia theater
property.
Last weekend's stortn, and
the flood and high winds
which accompanied it, have
caused extensive-damage to
roads and lookout post oper
ated by the Oregon state for
est patrol.
20 YEARS AGO "
Jan. 22, 1843 (Friday) . -
Cottage st. bridge ' over
Bear Creek said near col
lapse as flood waters under
mine supports.
From Arthur Perry's "Ye
Smudge Pot" column: "Walla
Walla, Wash., had a dust
storm the other day. A lot of
water has Rone under the
bridge since the oldest Inhab
itant of these parls saw dust."
30 YEARS AGO
Jan. 20, 1933 (Sunday)
Medford resident! urged to
contribute old furniture, es
pecially chairs and stoves, to
, be donated to. Jackson
county's unemployed.
Crater Lake National park
officials report total of 119
inches of snow at government
camp.
40 YEARS AGO
Jan. 22, 1923 (Monday)
Restaurant In Medford has
two fires in one day; police
start investigation.
Medford city council con
sidering new traffic ordin
ances designed to alleviate
crowded conditions on Muin
St.
50 YEARS AGO
Jan. 22. 1913 (Wednesday)
Jackson si. residents pro
test practice of milking cows
In street and ask police to
stop it.
Medford Commercial club
opposes increases in cost of
Oregon motor vehicle licenses.
What's Your I.Q.?
Nine or ten correct li superior;
seven or eight Is excellent! five oi
six li good.
1. Which planet Is nearest
the sun?
2. Which of the Central
American republics is the
smallest?
J. Name inrec oi the six
provinces of the Republic of
Congo.
4. Is the nickname of Mary
innci -uia Line state or
"Free State"?
8. Name the capital and
provisional capital of the Re
public of China.
6. Eduur Tike Burroughs is
most renowned for his erca
tion of what fictional charac
tcr?
7. In poker the chances of
getting three nf a kind (noth.
ing wild) are 12 to 1, 16 to 1,
or 48 to 1?
8. All tissues of the body
are completely renewed every
seven years; true or false?
S. How much does a cubic
fool of water weigh?
10. Which country In the
world is the largest producer
of coffee?
1. Mercury, 2. El Salvador.
3. Katanga. Leopoldrllle.
Klvu, Kaial, Oriental, Equa
tor. 4. Both. S. Nanking and
Taipei. I. Tartan. 7. 46 to 1.
I. False. (. 62.4 pounds. 10.
Brill).
This comment, from the Eugene Register
Guard, is a good assessment of what Gov. Mark
Hatfield told the legislature the day it opened.
Time after time, he came back to recommend
ations resulting from population increases and
population shift. ,
POR instance :
r He recommended new buildings to house
the ever-growing state government, growing to
fulfill the very real needs ot the people it serves,
He recommended that an increased portion
of forest fire prevention costs be borne by the
public, due to increased recreational use.
He recommended that the beaches become
"recreational areas"; that violation of federal
regulations on federal lands be subject to pros
ecution in state courts; that improved water con
servancy districts be made possible; that small
watershed planning be stepped up ; that unclaim
ed taxes on marine fuels be made available for
recreational improvements.
LIE RECOMMENDED state subdivision regula
tion; revision in public welfare, workmen's
compensation and unemployment compensation
legislation; legislation to enhance traitic satety;
stronger liquor control enforcement power; a re
view of the juvenile code. .
He suggested revisions in the local budget
law; legislation to permit counties to license bus
inesses, and to create local service districts not
limited just to sewage, water or fire protection.
He called for stronger controls over air and
water 'pollution, including summary abatement
power for the State Sanitary Authority.
All these, it will be noted, have come to the
fore because of changes in the state's population;
changes in numbers, in location, in habits, needs
and desires.
THE massive growth of the federal government,
deplored so widely and so loudly, has come
about, m no small measure, because ot the tailure
of local governments to act in areas where actiqn
is needed. Power has gone from state capitals to
Washington, almost by default. '
The Governor recognizes this. He said :
"... While It has become commonplace to turn our
backs on the problems and our palms to the federal
government, we can do much in our day to swing the
pendulum back to recognize not so much states' rights
as states' obligations. We can make Oregon a proving
ground for a new spirit of self-sufficiency if we but
have the will."
That is one side of the coin. The other is the
fact that counties have also been failing in their
responsibilities. Parts of the Governor's message
were designed to make county government more
etfective; parts ot it were designed to have the
state step in where the counties have failed as
in pollution control and subdivision regulation.
IN ESSENCE, then, the governor is calling for
mnvn nnwpr for lnonl iTnvfrnirirnt VinlVt stats
...u.w 1 -
and county, to assume responsibilites heretofore
unmet, or at best neglected, locally, and thus to
diminish the flow of power and responsibility to
Washington.
There are two other means by which this ob
jective can be sought.
One is by the adoption of the proposed new
Constitution, which would strengthen consider
ablv the state's power to act in its own behalf.
The other is by the adoption of home rule
charters by more counties, thus enabling them to
deal more efficiently with their own problems.
IN REGARD to the latter, we again quote the
Register-Guard :
"Now that it is actually in force. Lane country's
new home rule charter will permit the board of coun
ty commissioners to solve a lot of local problems of
immediate and long-range importance. Some of these
will be problems Hint have been long-standing but un
solved because, heretofore, their solutions had to be
worked out by the state legislature ...
"Thus, Ihc end result will be that important local
problems will be dealt with in a way most acceptable
to the people nf this country and most logical in the
Judgment of the county commissioners..
". . . Home rule will permit Lnnc county to pro
gress more rapidly, to correct nunc situations made
intolerable because of Inattention to them, and, to
tailor its own solutions to local problems, existing
and yet to come. Legislative oversights will no lunger
need be tolerated interminably if they involve mat
ters of direct local concern."
'My Voice Tell Me To Drive Out The British
If It Take. All Of The 15th Century"
THIS trend for local government to assume
more power and more responsiblity is one
that should be welcomed. It gives us greater con
trol over our own destinies, and Rt a level which,
because it is closest to the people, is most respon
sive to their needs and desires.
But it must also be realized that greater re
sponsibility entails greater burdens, both in cit-
uzen naruci nation in me processes oi govern
ment, and in raising the tax monies necessary
to do the jobs that need to be done.
From government, as from so many other
areas, we get just about what we pay for, in
terms of money and personal effort.' E.A.
t i
t,,Aleatato:
Today & Tomorrow
By Walter Lippminn
Id 1963. The Washington Post
ssslfceLsSjs
DE GAULLE SPEAKS OUT
General De Gaulle has now
said publicly what he has
been saying privately since
Britain decid
ed to apply
for member
ship In the
Common Mar
ket. He is not
too much con
cerned about
the economic
matters which
Llppmann Mr. Heath has
been negotiating at Brussels.
These issues are not far from
settlement by compromise,
and, in any case, the general
has been willing to make ar
rangements with Britain
about commercial matters.
What he is resolutely opposed
to is that Britain should pro
fess and pretend to be a Eu
ropean power, that she should
have full membership and
therefore an equal voice with
General De Gaulle in the for
mation of the political unity
of Western Europe.
We must remember that
while the Common Market is
a successful, going concern.
the community as a political
entity exists only in a quite
rudimentary form. To devel
op the political community
will take, it is usually sup
posed In Brussels and Paris,
another three or four years,
and it is for this formative
period that General De Gaulle
wants to exclude Great Britain.
After that, perhaps, when
a political union has been es
tablished, Britain would make
an acceptable member if
she subscribed unconditional
ly to the political arrange
ments arrived at before her
admission. General De Gaulle
wants to present Britain with
an accomplished fact. He docs
not intend to let Britain play
her part in accomplishing the
fact.
e e
fAULLIST Europe, which Is
" to be organized while Brit
ain is not present, is to have
as its core a close partnership
and alliance between France
and West Germany. Around
this Paris-Bonn nucleus will
gravitate Italy, Belgium, the
Netherlands and Luxembourg,
pulled to Paris and Bonn by
preeminent economic advant
ages of the Common Market.
In this system, Paris will be
the dominant political part
ner. It will represent "Eu
rope" in the international
world.
Now that General De
Gaulle has spoken so much
of his mind, the calculations
on which he is acting will be
put to the test. Can the small
continental Europe of the six
be organized as he wishes it
to be? Will Italy, Belgium
and the Netherlands accept
Ihc hegemony of Paris plus
Bonn? And, even more critic
ally, will West Germany, alter
Adenauer departs, look pri
marily to Paris for its foreign
policy?
GENERAL De Gaulle has so
" often been right about
what he could do that one
hesitates to say that he is
not right now. But he has
certainly taken on a formid
able task. He is proposing to
isolate the six continental
countries from the rest of
Western Europe, which in
cludes Great Britain and
many other countries, and to
Isolate this small Europe
from the Atlantic Community
which includes the United
Stales. Maybe the Germans
who come after Adenauer will
support him In this. But he
cannot count on that with
certainly. Maybe Italy and the
Low Countries will reluctant
ly acquiesce in a Gaullist Eu
rope. But we do not know
what would happen in such a
small, Isolated, restrictive,
Gaullist Europe.
There is a good reason, it
seems to me, to believe that
the little Gaullist Europe will
be restless and perhaps tur
bulent. Recently, when I was
in Europe, I realized how
deep and wide is the fear of
a German and an Italian Gen
eral De Gaulle that is to
say the Gaullist authoritarian
ism without General De
Gaulle himself. For the gen
eral is an exquisitely civilized
Frenchman, and in his hands,
the liberties and humanities
of western civilization are
quite safe.
But who would be the Ger
man General De Gaulle, who
the Italian? In Germany and
Italy, men ask that question.
They have not forgotten the
Prussians and the Nazis and
the Fascists, and the prospect
of being locked up inside a
Gaullist Europe is frightening
to them. The great majority
of people in the center," the
Christian Democrats and the
Social Democrats, look with
dismay and foreboding on this
prospect. That is why, out
side of France, there is so
strong a demand for the
presence o f parliamentary
Britain and for a continuing
association with the United
States.
e e e
A GAINST this background,
I find myself wondering
about the timing of General
De Gaulle's press conference.
On the one hand, Dr.
Adenauer has only a few more
months In office. Unless all
the evidence now available is
false, his successor will be
wholly against the exclusion
of Britain.
On the other hand, the Brit
ish government is having all
the troubles which accumulate
at the end of a long term of
office, and unless its nerves
remain very steady, it could
be provoked and goaded into
breaking off the Brussels
negotiations. Yet if Britain
were to withdraw its applica
tion before Dr. Adenauer
quits office, General De
Gaulle's chances of having his
way in Europe would be
greatly enhanced.
This Is a strong reason for
refusing to break off the
negotiations while the true
constellation of forces within
Europe is still masked by Dr.
Adenauer's personal relation
ship with General De Gaulle.
S COMPARED with what
the general said about
Britain and Europe, the pas
sages about Polaris and the
Nassau agreement are of
minor importance. It has nev
er been conceivable that Gen
eral De Gaulle would not re
ject the Nassau proposal. But
this is not so exciting or so
Important as it sounds. For
the day Is a long way off when
France will have nuclear
forces that she could or would
use independently.
The real situation Is not
I that France does not trust the
United States to deter Soviet
acgression. It is that General
De Gaulle has long been en
tirely sure that the Soviet
Union cannot and will not
engage In military aggression
in Europe.
What Mr. Krushchev has
Just been saying In East Ber
lin has been the major
premise of General De
Gaulle's European policy. In 1
the maintenance of peace, he
takes the United States for
granted. He knows that we arc
so Irrevocably com nu led that
he can safely pursue an inde
pendent. Indeed an isolation
ist, French policy regardless
of what we think ot it.
boyd on 8
Matter of Fact By Joseph Aliop
lc) New York Herald Tribune Syndicate
THE DE GAULLE MISTERY
Washington A major
mystery emerges from Gen.
de Gaulle's haughty, superbly
lucid and dis
c o n c e r ting
press confer
ence. The
mystery is
what d e
Gaulle really
hopes to ac
complish with
the French
nuclear dctcr-
Aisop rent. The first
part of the problem is tech
nical. At least for many years
to come, the French nuclear
deterrent as now planned
will not be worth a dollar
of the untold millions de
Gaulle is" grimly pouring into
it. To put it bluntly, it is a
military lemon of the first
order.
The reasons for this are
quite simple. During most of
the rest of the '60s, the de
Gaulle nuclear force will be
composed of late model Mi
rage bombers, carrying A
bombs rather' than H-bombs.
This design for a small scale
national deterrent looked like
a reasonable bet when it was
adopted by the French De
fense Ministry. But advances
in Soviet air defense technol
ogy have rendered the French
design totally obsolete before
the first Mirage has become
operational.
npHE heart of the French
- design is the capacity of
the Mirage to attack at low
altitudes and at supersonic
speeds. This looked quite good
enough when the Soviet air
defenses included no real pro
tection against supersonic at
tack on the deck, as was the
case until only a little more
than a year ago. But in the
past year, the Soviets have
added to their air defense-net
many hundreds of their SAM
III anti - aircraft ' missiles,
which are specifically design
ed to knock down low-flying
aircraft. - '
The efficiency of the SAM
III is not open to serious ques
tion. Judging by the Ameri
can experience over Cuba
with the Soviet high altitude
SAM lis, on the one day of
the Cuban crisis when these
were operational, the SAM
Ill's effectiveness has been
underestimated rather than
overestimated.
The American B-52s (which
are not as modern aircraft as
the Mirages) are nonetheless
counted upon to reach a fair
proportion of their destined
targets because of "penetra
tion aids." These range from
immensely complex and cost
ly fooling devices all the way
to the massive use of ballis
tic missiles in the first volley
to blast pathways through the
air defense net for the more
vulnerable bombers.
rpHE French deterrent de
sign does not include pen
etration aids on anything like
the scale of the problem.
Hence the appearance of the
SAM Ills has automatically
rendered obsolete the Mirage
based French deterrent de
sign. One hesitates to accuse
Gen. de Gaulle of talking
nonsense. Yet unless he is
thinking of dropping his atom
bombs in Africa, in Western
Europe, or on some other
non-nuclear power, he was
clearly talking nonsense when
he told his press conference:
"The French atomic force,
from the moment it becomes
operational, will have the
somber and terrible capabil
ity of destroying in a few in
stants millions upon millions.
of men. This cannot fail to in
fluence the intentions of a fu
ture aggressor, at least in
some measure."
The only future agressor
France needs to worry about,
the Soviet Union, is plainly
not going to be influenced at
all, as long as the masters of
the Kremlin are solidly con
fident that the Mirages can
be knocked out of the air
long before they destroy "mil
lions upon millions of men."
The unchallengeable Amer
ican evidence concerning the
Soviet Union's SAM IU de
fenses has been fully and re
peatedly communicated to the
French Defense Ministry at
several levels.
Maybe the French govern
ment is more Impressed by
the kind of American big
bomber generals, who helped
to cause the Skybolt mess -the
kind who ignore the tech
nical facts and swear "the
bomber will always get
through." Otherwise the very
men who are pouring money
into the Mirage-based French
deterrent must know that the
weapons they are buying are
already ineffectual.
IN AN earlier period, it was
possible to resolve the mys
tery in another way - by
assuming that de Gaulle was
looking forward to the even
tual creation of a European
nuclear deterrent. If this were
what he had in mind, he
would surely think it useful
to start along the road in
France.
But this is not what de
Gaulle has in mind, according
to those closest to him. In
the earlier period, when Ger
man Chancellor Konrad Ade
nauer seemed likely to last
forever, the General may in
deed have played with the
idea of a European deterrent.
But Adenauer has now put
a term to his chancellorship.
Gen de Gaulle therefore con
siders Germany, as he told
Prime Minister Macmillan at
Rambouillet, as being ."wiped
off the map." Thus de Gaulle
can no longer desire to cre
ate a European deterrent con
trolled by the Franco-German
partnership.
If the General is not look
ing forward to a European
deterrent, and if the French
deterrent is obsolete before it
becomes operational, what
then has the General got in
mind?
Try and Stop Mo
By BENNETT CERF-
'T
l-t-l-t I fc
AND THEN THERE'S the story of the man who became
a millionaire overnight and promptly had three pools
installed on his new estate. One was filled with cold water
tor his hardier friends,
one with warm water for
those who preferred it
that way. "But the third
pool?" inquired an old
friend. "What do you
need that for?" "That
one has no water in it at
all," explained the host.
"It's tor friends who
don't know how to swim."
e e e
"I'm afraid this must be
our last date together," a
college miss told her cur
rent beau. "Papa says I
shouldn't be-going out with
you." "On what grounds," demanded the beau angrily, "does
your father disapprove of me?" "Frankly," she replied demurs
ly, "on any grounds within a mile of our house."
;
' "I'll tell you how rich those folks are down in Texas these,
days," a Little Rock resident told me enviously. "I know one oil
man in Houston who doesn't even know he's got six kids going
through college'."
And let us not overlook the story of the women who told her
husband, "Be an angel and let me drive." He did and he is.
O 1963, by Bennett Cert. Distributed by Kins Features Syndicate
SX1A
In the Day's News
By FRANK JENKINS
Mr. Kroosh has been mak
ing news in East Berlin,
where the Sixth Communist
Party Congress of East Ger
many has been in session.
STANDING on a COMMU
NIST platform and TALK
ING TO COMMUNISTS, Pre
mier Khrushchev poured
scorn bn Red China's war and
peace theories which are
based on WAR, war to the
knife, for Communist control
of the world.
Talking straight to Red
China, he warned that neither
communism nor anyone else
can win in a nuclear war be
cause such a war would bring
UNIMAGINABLE destruc
tion. Talking over the heads
of the East German 'Hippets
to the Chinese cor.imunist
leaders in Peking, he said, in
effect:
1. The U.S. has 40,000
atomic or nuclear warheads,
and if all of them were drop
ped 700 million to 800 million
people would be killed and
whole nations would be wiped
out.
2. Russia, of course, has an
THE JS
SUPPOSED
TO KEEP ,
THE PEACE
SHAME,.
SHAME''
SHAME ON
THEUdl-
'MH'SOHVf
PEACE".
icongo!;!
i f icr r u
"A few months ago. they wanted to destroy the UN
by having us get out of it now they're acting like
disappointed loversl"
EVEN MORE POWERFUL
atomic arsenal than the U.S.,
but there's a catch to it.
3. The catch is this: Russia's
100-megaton bomb (the equiv
alent of 100 million tons ot
TNT) is so fantastically pow
erful that Russia DARES
NOT drop it on West Ger
many or France BECAUSE
ITS EFFECTS WOULD HIT
YOU TOO. (By "you too" he .
means the communists of East
Germany, Poland, Czechoslo
vakia, etc.)
TIE ADDED:
11 '
"The Americans would be
under no such inhibition be
cause they would be half
around the world from where
their bombs WOULD DROP
ON US."
Thus he implied:
We would be in an impos
sible position in the event of
a nuclear war, because the
Americans could drop their
immense quantities of bombs
on us without getting any
kick-back, whereas our im-'
mensely more powerful
bombs can't be used (on the -European
allies of the U.S.)
because if we dropped them
on Western Europe they are
so powerful that they would
blow us off the earth too.
QUESTION:
Did Kroosh go too far?
Did he admit that the U.S.
rules the world because of the
superiority of its nuclear '
armament?
The answer seems to be
NO because he left open the -iriplication
that Russia can
r"rop her 100-megatonners ON
MERICA without getting :
the kick-back that would fol-;
low if Russia's huge bombs -were
dropped on America's -European
allies.
He tossed that in to keep
from admitting that the Unit
ed States has the upper hand
in nuclear warfare because ;
of the greater abundance of -her
armament.
SUMMING it up:
It looks like Mr. Khru- :
shchev realizes that because :
of the stubborn insistence of
Ihc Red Chinese that WAR
is the way to win the world
for communism, he is in a
tight spot.
If that is true, it is an in
teresting development.
Leisurely Britain Facing Challenges
MM
By ERIC SEVAREID
The last time Prime Minis
ter Macmillan visited Wash
ington he said to an Ameri
can dinner partner, "Every
country has Us
4 umuiuioi
4 nightmare.
O u r s is un-
employ
ment. What's
yours?" The
answer was.
"Another
Pearl Harbor."
sevarrio Anyone
keeping this exchange in
mind will better understand
the csencc of British foreign
and defense policy and the
real nature nf the present
squabbling about nuclear in
dependence and American
leadership of the Atlantic Al
liance. He will understand why
the United States willingly
faces a federal budget of a
hundred billion dollars; and
why Britain dropped her
Bluestrcak missile tor the vir
tually free Skybolt. went into
an uproar when Skybolt was
canceled, will not undertake
a truly independent modern
ized nuclear arsenal, and fails
to bring her Rhine army up
to strength; and why part of
the British press openly ac
cuses the United States of
using the U N. Katanga op
eration as a cover under
cessions away from Euro
peans.
The maintenance of her
present prosperity is an ob
session in Britain and the ful
crum on which her govern
ments rise or fall. Whatever
regime occupies Whitehall
finds itself caught in the
Procrustean! bed of the im
placable interaction of rising
domestic consumption and
falling experts. Britain must
still "export or die," her room
for maneuver Is slight, and
she must live by her eco
nomic wits.
What will determine whe
ther Britain "falls to the sta
tus of a third class power,"
to use Ihc phrase Tory back
benchers now cry aloud, is
not the question of her nu
clear independence from us
or from NATO, but the ques
tions of her joining the Com
mon Market and what hap
pens after that.
Inside the market, she has
still got to compete in pr
duction and sales with the
other members, and lim
means a profound renovation
of British industrial equip
ment and methods. In a cer
tain, ironic sense British in
dustry was not destroyed
enough in the war; the new
plants in France. Germany
and Italy are far more effi
cient than much of Britain's.
The great port of London is
sluggish and archaic; labor
which to grab economic con-j union feather - bedding and
wildcat strikes make matters
worse; even in shipbuilding,
the Germans, Dutch, Ewcdes,
to say nothing of the Japan
ese, equal her in quality and
beat her in construction and
delivery times and in prices.
Only a fool would under
rate the British people in any
crisis, but when they say, as
so many do, "Ah, well, we
have a way of winning the
last battle, you know." one
is obliged to wonder if they
are not fooling themselves.
This kind of slow war of eco
nomic attrition has no dra
matic last battle. Salvation
depends on what was done
yesterday, is being done to
o'ay and will be done tomor
row. The problem goes deep
and involved. I'm afraid, the
mores, vahies and habits of
a whole society. We, the Ger
mans and the Japanese seem
to live in order to work; and
it makes life tense and ex
hausting. The English seem to
work in order to live: this
makes their life infinitely
more pleasant and leaves
room for the human graces.
But history will not stop,
only the fittest will survive,
and the business life of the
British remains essentially
Victorian. The truth is that
they arc not a hard working
people in this era of "I'm all
right. Jack." and the tax
rates scarcely encourage the
shedding of sweat, to say
nothing of blood and tears.
The trouble is pandemie
and includes management. A
London public relations ex
pert said to me, "In America,
public relations firms essen
tially handle publicity for an
industry. In Britain we are
also consultants on manage
ment, because British busi
ness, like her sports and her
politics, is largely run by
amateurs - by sons, grand
sons, nephews who have had
a literary education and for
whom precision, punctuality
and detailed expertise are re
garded as bad form."
(My first friendly admoni
tion upon joining a London
club was that to be overhead
discussing business St lunch
might well bring a polite note
from the club secretary.)
Anyone who loves London
as it is, who loves the long
week-ends, the country visits,
the tea breaks, the fusty of
fices and the handwritten
notes, contemplates their con
quest by the frenetic spirit
of Madison Avenue with sick
ness in his stomach. But to
contemplate the withering of
Britain as a political and hu
man force in this harsh world
is lo feel a lot sicker. They
have a choice, but they all
have to sec and accept it,
down to the last stenogra
pher, though this may require
a peace time Churchill, if
there be such a thing.
Distributed 1963.
by The Hall Syndicate. Inc.)
(All Rights Reserved)